was just curious about something.

cueball1950

cueball1950

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I was just curious as to what a money poor decent playing player would use for a cue. A house cue maybe. Do they sit and wish i had this cue or wish i had that cue. Maybe better yet they might sit there and wonder if billy bob would let him/her use their cue knowing full welll that poor playing player knows how to handle a cue and would not hurt it. Or maybe they might sit their hoping against all hope that someone with alot of cues just might, just might give them one of their older cues to play with..

now the reason for this weird post. we have a rather strange person who can play a little and not abuse a cue hanging around our pool hall and he has been playing with a house cue for awhile. When he would just sit at the rail watching everybody play i would watch his expression on his face and how his would eyes light up when someone with a nice cue come over and showed him their cue and talk to him. I could always see the temptation in his eyes, wanting to ask if he could hit a couple of balls with it. So anyway, I have a older Huebler (1 of 3 that i picked up on here from an az member) that did not have a shaft so i picked up a generic shaft for it and i am planning on giving it to him this week. Maybe i will make his dream come true.............................................mike
PS....
but i would still love to know what he was thinking sitting there. but i guess i am just to proud to ask as to not embarrass him or myself if my thinking was wrong................
 
Mike,

I was overcome with similar generous feelings a couple of times, but now I am cured. The first was I gave a cue as a gift to a down and out player (a very strong player) who was broke and using a beat up house cue. He sold it within a couple of days.

Then I sold a cue for less than half its value to a playing buddy who was playing with a junk cue. I felt sorry for him. He didn't like it but he didn't want to insult me. He didn't say anything, but changed cues soon afterward.

Chris
 
I bought an older Helmstetter cue for $150. It was a really nice looking cue in great shape, black points red veneers. I sold to a young college kid on my league team for a $100 and let him pay a little at a time. He was playing with a Sportscraft cue. :)

He is so proud of that thing. Last week the guy he was playing asked him about it saying that's a nice looking cue. You could see the smile on his face as he was telling him about it.
 
I sold an ivory loaded Schrager to a friend who loved the game for my cost from 20 years early. He now has 4-5 collectible cues and his wife hates me for 'getting him started'.
 
cueball1950 said:
I was just curious as to what a money poor decent playing player would use for a cue. A house cue maybe. Do they sit and wish i had this cue or wish i had that cue. Maybe better yet they might sit there and wonder if billy bob would let him/her use their cue knowing full welll that poor playing player knows how to handle a cue and would not hurt it. Or maybe they might sit their hoping against all hope that someone with alot of cues just might, just might give them one of their older cues to play with..

now the reason for this weird post. we have a rather strange person who can play a little and not abuse a cue hanging around our pool hall and he has been playing with a house cue for awhile. When he would just sit at the rail watching everybody play i would watch his expression on his face and how his would eyes light up when someone with a nice cue come over and showed him their cue and talk to him. I could always see the temptation in his eyes, wanting to ask if he could hit a couple of balls with it. So anyway, I have a older Huebler (1 of 3 that i picked up on here from an az member) that did not have a shaft so i picked up a generic shaft for it and i am planning on giving it to him this week. Maybe i will make his dream come true.............................................mike
PS....
but i would still love to know what he was thinking sitting there. but i guess i am just to proud to ask as to not embarrass him or myself if my thinking was wrong................
Click to expand...


This is really nice thread and a kind gesture on your part for sure. Whether he appreciates/keeps the cue or not only time will tell.I do believe that what comes around goes around. Good on you.
RJ
 
cueball1950 said:
I was just curious as to what a money poor decent playing player would use for a cue. A house cue maybe. Do they sit and wish i had this cue or wish i had that cue. Maybe better yet they might sit there and wonder if billy bob would let him/her use their cue knowing full welll that poor playing player knows how to handle a cue and would not hurt it. Or maybe they might sit their hoping against all hope that someone with alot of cues just might, just might give them one of their older cues to play with..

now the reason for this weird post. we have a rather strange person who can play a little and not abuse a cue hanging around our pool hall and he has been playing with a house cue for awhile. When he would just sit at the rail watching everybody play i would watch his expression on his face and how his would eyes light up when someone with a nice cue come over and showed him their cue and talk to him. I could always see the temptation in his eyes, wanting to ask if he could hit a couple of balls with it. So anyway, I have a older Huebler (1 of 3 that i picked up on here from an az member) that did not have a shaft so i picked up a generic shaft for it and i am planning on giving it to him this week. Maybe i will make his dream come true.............................................mike
PS....
but i would still love to know what he was thinking sitting there. but i guess i am just to proud to ask as to not embarrass him or myself if my thinking was wrong................
Click to expand...

It's very generous of you to be thinking of giving a cue to a guy like that. My hats off to you. To takeout the embarassment to both, I think what you can do is offer him a game and offer that cue to him to shoot with. When he says he likes it, then let him borrow the cue for awhile. After a week or two, give it to him.
 
I don't know if I would "give" him the cue. Try to to figure out what he can afford and sell it to him.

I think he would feel a whole lot better paying for the cue, even if it's a token amount. Pride is funny like that. ;)
 
A Gifted Cue Got Me Started

I got to playing seriously after a friend received a pool cue as a gift. We'd go to the pool hall and share it....about a month later I had bought my own cue.
My friend also bought a better cue (one more to his liking) and regifted the original gift cue to another friend on the condition that he uses it......He told the guy if it was going to spend most of the time in the closet then he'd just keep it for a break cue....Needless to say the friend was thrilled with it.

The points people made on here about bad gifting experience gave me the idea that you should let him know you're moving him up to a quality cue.....Keep it at the pool hall for him to use when he's there. After you're sure he's going to use it rather than sell it or abuse it, give it to him outright or at a token dollar amount....That's what I'd do.

Gifts are great.....spread the love and grow the game

McCue Banger McCue
 
I haven't ever given a cue to anyone and this may be a little off topic but I have paid tourney entry fees for other people. When I know a guy loves the game and is having a hard time making ends meet I just can't let them sit there at the bar wishing they had the ten bucks to enter the tourney. I have only done this a few times but it sure brightened both our days do do it.

BK
 
Giving a gift can make you feel just as good as getting one. Give the man the cue, and play him for a couple hours to make sure he knows the basics. After that the love of the game should do the rest. I haven't done the exact same thing myself, but I do have a cheap cue, which just happens to play very good. Whenever I'm playing someone without a cue, I offer it to them, as long as they know which end to use. Especially younger kids are really thankful for the trust you put into them. Keep up the good work!

gr. Dave
 
Well i had thought about selling it to him in the beginning and realized that this man has very little income. This man loves to play so much that he takes (public transportation) buses from Troy to Albany a couple of time a week to play. That involves taking about 3 to 4 buses each time each way. From where he lives in Troy it is about a 20 mile trip the way the buses go. or maybe a little longer. Then when he gets there he only has enough to play for an hour at most. Then he hangs out until it is time for his bus trip home. I love this game and if i did not drive i don't know if i would go thru that much to play. And he does it in all kinds of weather. So i figured if he loves this game so much to go thru that then he can just have the cue with my best wishes...................................mike
 
That is great, Mike! I am sure he will just love it; you will have to describe how his eyes lit up when you gave it to him.
 
Great stuff man!......I'm all for paying it forward and stuff like that. I used to pick up peoples table time, give lessons, pay entry fees....all to better the game. Nothing like seeing a kids face when you hook him up with a free sneaky pete or a soft case that was free to us anyway. I always liked to do it anonymously like they won the 100th customer of the week thing or something so they don't feel obligated to me......

Gerry
 
Selling it cheap may be better

Jeff said:
I don't know if I would "give" him the cue. Try to to figure out what he can afford and sell it to him.

I think he would feel a whole lot better paying for the cue, even if it's a token amount. Pride is funny like that. ;)
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I agree with Jeff here. Let him play you using the cue, if/when he says he likes it, you say, you know I don't use it anymore, it doesn't really fit me (or some such) and offer it to him for $20. He'll have paid for it, feel he owns it, probably won't resell it (if he says he likes it), and even could brag about the "deal" he got on it. Geez, if you had only done him wrong to start with it'd be like an episode of My Name is Earl, eh?
 
deserving pool buddies

Great idea Mike. He sounds like the type that would genuinely appreciate the gift and can use a thoughtful friend. Wouldn't attach any strings to the gift myself and would keep your generous gesture private. Thx for the thread.

BillyKoda said:
I haven't ever given a cue to anyone and this may be a little off topic but I have paid tourney entry fees for other people. When I know a guy loves the game and is having a hard time making ends meet I just can't let them sit there at the bar wishing they had the ten bucks to enter the tourney. I have only done this a few times but it sure brightened both our days do do it.

BK
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Billy: Your thoughtfulness is very familiar. I seldom have any extra cues/equip avail to gift. Most of us are familiar with nice, often young people who are struggling and can often use a bit of extra cash for "league night" or the local tourney, etc.... I try to keep any gift private and low key. Most appreciate it, some begin to expect it, some may even resent the help. :rolleyes:

Jigger
 
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